Persistent punishment : users views of short prison sentences

Semi-structured interviews were conducted of 22 prisoners to gather information about the characteristic features of short prison sentences. Themes raised in comments included: the frequency and quality of sentences, addiction, family, and penal legitimacy. Most of the participants had extensive experience of prison, and the effects of this played out across sentences and years, accumulating and amplifying impacts. And, despite expressions of guilt and remorse, most participants saw their sentence as unjust, and mainly a reaction to offending history. We conclude by suggesting the need for research to shift focus from evaluating individual penal interventions towards more holistic and narrative accounts that cut across sentences

Sex Offenders’ Perceptions of the Police and Courts:Are There Spill-Over Effects?

Individuals convicted of sexual offenses are rarely asked their views of the police and courts. The aims of this study were to examine the impact of feelings of guilt on perceptions of the police and police interview outcomes and spill-over effects from perceptions of the police to perceptions of the courts. Participants were 116 adult males incarcerated for sexual offenses who were invited to report their perceptions of police interviewers, feelings at the time of interview, interview outcomes, and perceptions of the court process. Feelings of guilt were related to perceptions of the police. Both feelings of guilt and perceptions of the police were associated with interview outcomes. Spill-over effects were found as perceptions of the police were directly related to perceptions of the courts. The findings highlight the important role of police officers as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system, with associated implications for police officers’ training and practice

Inmate Recidivism as a Measure of Private Prison Performance

The growth of the private corrections industry has elicited interest in the comparative performance of state and private prisons. One way to measure the service quality of private prisons is to examine inmates' postrelease performance. Current empirical evidence is limited to four studies, all conducted in Florida. This analysis replicates and adds to the Florida measures in a different state and enhances previous methods. It uses data for a large cohort of Oklahoma state prison inmates released between 1997 and 2001. Controlling for known covariates, multivariate survival analysis revealed comparative rates of reincarceration for inmates in multiple exposure and comparison groups. These results are unique among prior studies on this topic; private prison inmates had a greater hazard of recidivism in all eight models tested, six of which were statistically significant. Finding no empirical support for claims of superior service from private corrections, the authors discuss policy implications and prospects for future research.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

'Just’ punishment? Offenders’ views on the meaning and severity of punishment

In England and Wales, ‘punishment’ is a central element of criminal justice. What punishment entails exactly, however, and how it relates to the other aims of sentencing (crime reduction, rehabilitation, public protection and reparation), remains contested. This article outlines different conceptualizations of punishment and explores to what extent offenders subscribe to these perspectives. The analysis is supported by findings from two empirical studies on the subjective experiences of imprisonment and probation, respectively. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 male and 15 female prisoners and seven male and two female probationers. Two primary conceptualizations of punishment were identified: ‘punishment as deprivation of liberty’ and ‘punishment as hard treatment’. The comparative subjective severity of different sentences and the collateral (unintended) consequences of punishment are also discussed. It is shown that there are large individual differences in the interpretation and subjective experience of punishment, which has implications for the concept of retributive proportionality, as well as the function of punishment more generally

The Effectiveness of Support and Rehabilitation Services for Women Offenders

There is a large body of research evidence suggesting that support, rehabilitation, and supervision programs can help offenders to reduce recidivism. However, the effectiveness of these services is dependent upon the extent to which the workers who deliver them comply with "what works" principles and practices. Because most of this research has been conducted with men, this study focused on the extent to which these principles and practices apply to women. In particular, the study examined services offered to a group of women in prison in Victoria, Australia, and following their release to the community; and the relationship between these women's views about the services, recidivism, and the characteristics of the services. Results were generally consistent with earlier research. The women favoured services that are delivered by workers who are reliable, holistic, collaborative, who understand the women's perspective, and that focus on strengths. They did not support services that challenged the women, focused on their offences, or on the things they did badly

Incarceration as a key variable in racial disparities of asthma prevalence

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the disproportionate incarceration of minorities in the United States, little data exist investigating how being incarcerated contributes to persistent racial/ethnic disparities in chronic conditions. We hypothesized that incarceration augments disparities in chronic disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using data from the New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Study, a community-based survey of 1999 adults, we first estimated the association between having a history of incarceration and the prevalence of asthma, diabetes, hypertension using propensity score matching methods. Propensity scores predictive of incarceration were generated using participant demographics, socioeconomic status, smoking, excessive alcohol and illicit drug use, and intimate partner violence. Among those conditions associated with incarceration, we then performed mediation analysis to explore whether incarceration mediates racial/ethnic disparities within the disease.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Individuals with a history of incarceration were more likely to have asthma compared to those without (13% vs. 6%, p < 0.05) and not more likely to have diabetes or hypertension, after matching on propensity scores. Statistical mediation analysis revealed that increased rates of incarceration among Blacks partially contribute to the racial disparity in asthma prevalence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Having been incarcerated may augment racial disparities in asthma among NYC residents. Eliminating health disparities should include a better understanding of the role of incarceration and criminal justice policies in contributing to these disparities.</p

Offender management in and after prison: The end of ‘end to end’?

In 2013 a joint report by the Inspectorates of Probations and Prisons in England and Wales concluded that offender management in prisons was ‘not working’ and called for a fundamental review. This article considers why existing arrangements have failed and draws upon theory and research on resettlement, case management and desistance from crime, to define what a more effective system of ‘rehabilitative resettlement’ – both inside prison and ‘through the gate’ – might look like. It also comments on emerging proposals for radical change, including abandonment of the ‘end to end’ model of offender management by an outside probation officer and the development of ‘rehabilitative prisons’, in which more responsibility is placed on prisoners for managing their own rehabilitation, and a formal motivational role is created for large numbers of prison staff.10.1177/1748895816665435 Published in the Journal Criminology & Criminal Justice published by Sag

Verbal, visual, and intermediary support for child witnesses with autism during investigative interviews

Three promising investigative interview interventions were assessed in 270 children (age 6-11 years): 71 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 199 who were typically developing (TD). Children received ‘Verbal Labels’, ‘Sketch Reinstatement of Context’ or ‘Registered Intermediary’ interviews designed to improve interview performance without decreasing accuracy. Children with ASD showed no increases in the number of correct details recalled for any of the three interview types (compared to a Best-Practice police interview), whereas TD children showed significant improvements in the Registered Intermediary and Verbal Labels interviews. Findings suggested that children with ASD can perform as well as TD children in certain types of investigative interviews, but some expected benefits (e.g., of Registered Intermediaries) were not apparent in this study

Recall of a live and personally experienced eyewitness event by adults with autism spectrum disorder

The aim of the present study was to (a) extend previous eyewitness research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a live and personally experienced event; (b) examine whether witnesses with ASD demonstrate a facilitative effect in memory for self- over other-performed actions; (c) explore source monitoring abilities by witnesses with ASD in discriminating who performed which actions within the event. Eighteen high-functioning adults with ASD and 18 age- and IQ-matched typical counterparts participated in a live first aid scenario in which they and the experimenter each performed a number of actions. Participants were subsequently interviewed for their memory of the event using a standard interview procedure with free recall followed by questioning. The ASD group recalled just as many correct details as the comparison group from the event overall, however they made more errors. This was the case across both free recall and questioning phases. Both groups showed a self-enactment effect across both interview phases, recalling more actions that they had performed themselves than actions that the experimenter had performed. However, the ASD group were more likely than their typical comparisons to confuse the source of self-performed actions in free recall, but not in questioning, which may indicate executive functioning difficulties with unsupported test procedures. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications